Hey everyone! I understand that it's been a while since my last post here. I've been spending more energy on my new podcast launch at www.getsomegrit.com. I urge you to check it out, as I discuss topics there that overlap with the kinds of material I post here. Anyway, on to the post!

I'd like you to consider a phrase made popular by University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban that, if you choose to follow it, will make your work AND play more effective, allowing you to squeeze every last drop out of every aspect of your life:

"How we do anything is how we do everything."

Or in other words, in everything you do, do your best the first time around.

When I was a kid, my dad spent years trying to instill the concept that doing it right the first time actually took LESS time than focusing on speed and glossing over things. It never failed that when I rushed through a job to get to what I wanted to do, that he would come behind me to inspect my work, and I would have to spend double the time on the project to get it right.

Want to make your music lessons fun? Prepare more carefully and thoughtfully. Don't plow through everything in every practice session! By being deliberate and focusing on less material in each session, the concepts are more likely to "stick" when you play for your teacher or on the audition day.

Want to make vacation more fun and memorable? Don't take your work laptop or iPad. Put a vacation message on your email, and stay present in the moment. Bring the same level of commitment to your leisure time as your work, and your leisure time will become more restorative!

Creating a proper work and play balance in life is crucial to long term success and avoiding burnout, however, the danger of "finding balance" often translates to graduated levels of effort on various responsibilities. By using the phrase above, you'll find that excellence becomes more of a habit, and easier to carry into every new project you take on.